Chapter 11: Models of Film TheoryChapter 11: Models of Film Theory

Basic Models of Film TheoryBasic Models of Film Theory

RealistRealist AuteuristAuteurist PsychoanalyticPsychoanalytic IdeologicalIdeological FeministFeminist Cognitive Cognitive

Realist TheoryRealist Theory

Looks for correspondences between film Looks for correspondences between film images and the realities before the cameraimages and the realities before the camera

Restrictions on stylistic manipulationRestrictions on stylistic manipulation Andre BazinAndre Bazin

Ethical formulationEthical formulation Deep-focus cinematographyDeep-focus cinematography The long takeThe long take

Jean Renoir, Orson WellesJean Renoir, Orson Welles

Bazin’s approachBazin’s approach StrengthStrength

Stress on ethical contract between filmmaker and Stress on ethical contract between filmmaker and viewerviewer

WeaknessWeakness Typifies few filmsTypifies few films Deep focus, long takes, and montage may co-exist Deep focus, long takes, and montage may co-exist

in a given filmin a given film

Other Realist ModelsOther Realist Models

Documentary RealismDocumentary Realism Italian neo-realismItalian neo-realism Perceptual realismPerceptual realism

Basis for realism at perceptual levelBasis for realism at perceptual level Three-dimensional visual/acoustic informationThree-dimensional visual/acoustic information

Cinema conveys same information as found in Cinema conveys same information as found in everyday lifeeveryday life

Constrained by cinema’s transformative elementsConstrained by cinema’s transformative elements

Auteurist TheoryAuteurist Theory

The film director as author and artistThe film director as author and artist A recognizable stylistic signatureA recognizable stylistic signature Consistencies of theme and visual designConsistencies of theme and visual design

Alfred HitchcockAlfred Hitchcock

Strength:Strength: Helps legitimize the medium as an artHelps legitimize the medium as an art

Weakness:Weakness: Attributional errorsAttributional errors Filmmaking is collaborativeFilmmaking is collaborative

Psychoanalytic ModelsPsychoanalytic Models

Derived from the writings of Freud and Derived from the writings of Freud and Jacques LacanJacques Lacan

Cinema activates unconscious, non-rational Cinema activates unconscious, non-rational pleasures and anxietiespleasures and anxieties VoyeurismVoyeurism

Fetish and taboo imageryFetish and taboo imagery

StrengthStrength Emphasis on the emotional power of cinemaEmphasis on the emotional power of cinema Emphasis on its ability to arouse desire and Emphasis on its ability to arouse desire and

pleasurepleasure WeaknessWeakness

Based on ambiguous clinical dataBased on ambiguous clinical data Tendency to over-extend its claimsTendency to over-extend its claims

Ideological ModelsIdeological Models

Ideology – set of beliefs about society and the Ideology – set of beliefs about society and the worldworld

Emphasizes how film portrays society and Emphasizes how film portrays society and expresses ideologiesexpresses ideologies

Levels of ideological expressionLevels of ideological expression First orderFirst order

Rambo: First Blood Part IIRambo: First Blood Part II

Second orderSecond order Back to the FutureBack to the Future

Ideological point of view:Ideological point of view: Support for established social valuesSupport for established social values Critique of established valuesCritique of established values ConglomerationConglomeration

Mixed set of appeals and outlooksMixed set of appeals and outlooks Enhances marketing to large, heterogeneous Enhances marketing to large, heterogeneous

audiencesaudiences

StrengthStrength Emphasizes relationship of film and societyEmphasizes relationship of film and society Exposes distorted portraits of social issuesExposes distorted portraits of social issues

WeaknessWeakness Tends to over-extend its claimsTends to over-extend its claims Reduces films to ideological symptomsReduces films to ideological symptoms

Feminist ModelsFeminist Models

Depiction of gender in filmDepiction of gender in film Connects this to social ideologies and practicesConnects this to social ideologies and practices Images of women (and men) in films made by Images of women (and men) in films made by

menmen Alternative forms of feminist filmmakingAlternative forms of feminist filmmaking

May blend psychoanalytic and ideological May blend psychoanalytic and ideological elementselements

StrengthStrength Emphasis on the ways gender influences the Emphasis on the ways gender influences the

production of imagesproduction of images WeaknessWeakness

Gender is one of many filters on human Gender is one of many filters on human experienceexperience

Cognitive ModelsCognitive Models

Viewer perception of visual and auditory Viewer perception of visual and auditory informationinformation Perceptual processingPerceptual processing

How viewers organize these perceptions and How viewers organize these perceptions and derive meaning from themderive meaning from them Interpretive processingInterpretive processing

Schemas (frameworks of interpretation)Schemas (frameworks of interpretation)

Bases for a viewer’s understanding of cinemaBases for a viewer’s understanding of cinema Perceptual correspondencesPerceptual correspondences Social correspondencesSocial correspondences

StrengthsStrengths The theory is research-based, supported by empirical The theory is research-based, supported by empirical

datadata By accounting for the intelligibility of cinema, the By accounting for the intelligibility of cinema, the

theory also accounts, in part, for the medium’s theory also accounts, in part, for the medium’s popularitypopularity

WeaknessWeakness Relative lack of attention to emotionRelative lack of attention to emotion Lack of attention to cinema’s transformative functionsLack of attention to cinema’s transformative functions